Poor vs Rich - Forward to Eden

[Chana Satya Levine]

Dear David,

You have raised some interesting, if gloomy, points.

What if, instead of being concerned with going "back to Eden," we head
forward to Eden?

The forces that have given rise to the social/cultural diseases you
mentioned have been around since the dawn of humanity, or at the very
least the agricultural revolution. The Eden of the past was unstable
and couldn't last. [The Kabbalah goes into great depth and detail-
which I have seen but a little of- in describing what exactly were the
vulnerabilities of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.* Interestingly,
Adam is credited (faulted) for setting in motion, through various
miscalculations and a dab of arrogance, the process that eventually
led to Eve eating from the Tree of Knowledge. It actually goes further
to suggest that G-d set them up to fail- it was an impossible test.
Why would G-d do such a thing? Perhaps, (one angle), because grace
that is gifted is fragile and imperfect by nature, while grace that is
earned is rich with experience, and unshakable. Think of the
difference between the innocent wisdom of childhood, which invariably
is compromised by the forces of life, and the acquired wisdom of old
age. (For another angle, you can think of the difference in their
respective relationship to their source. A child's relationship to its
parents is completely self centered...)]

I would suggest that our task, as human beings with some awareness of
our circumstances, is to look forward. "A little light dispels much
darkness." The darkness is great, but there is no need to assume that
the only Eden is in the past. Keep lighting up the world one breath at
a time. There will be a tipping point!

Chana Satya

*It also describes how the relationship between Adam and Eve
(Masculine and Feminine) was fundamentally flawed from the moment of
their creation and thus required a process of history to bring them to
a place of rectified equality. Fascinating stuff!